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Metro Division Snapshots: Raanta, Calvert, Capitals

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New York Rangers backup net minder Antti Raanta is 5 – 0 – 0 in six starts this season after besting the Penguins 5 – 2 Monday night and since joining the Blueshirts in 2015, the Finnish goalie 16 – 6 – 2 with a GAA of 2.20 and a Save % of 92.4%. While he isn’t a threat to the job of longtime Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist, his superb play at the bargain basement price of $1M this year and next does give the Blueshirts one of the best backup bargains in the league, writes Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post.

Raanta was acquired from Chicago in the summer of 2015 in exchange for minor league forward Ryan Haggerty to replace Cam Talbot as Lundqvist’s understudy. He spent two seasons with the Blackhawks and saw action in 39 games. Raanta was originally inked by Chicago as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

Even though “King” Henrik is the unquestioned starter in New York, the plan is for the Rangers to limit his usage somewhat in order to keep him fresh for the playoffs. As such, Raanta is expected to see action in around 25 games this season. His stellar play means there is little to no drop off  from Lundqvist when Raanta is in goal.

Even though Raanta is under contract for one more season, it’s quite possible he won’t be with the Rangers beyond the 2016-17 campaign. With the Rangers required to protect Lundqvist in the expansion draft, the new Vegas Golden Knights franchise will have the option of selecting the 27-year-old Raanta. At the very least he would be an excellent #2 goalie at an inexpensive price for the Golden Knights in their inaugural season.

More from the Metro Division:

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets announced via their official Twitter account that Matt Calvert would miss tonight’s game against Calgary with an upper-body-injury. To take his place the team recalled forward Markus Hannikainen from Cleveland of the AHL. Calvert, who was hit by a shot in a recent game against the Rangers which ultimately required 36 stitches to his forehead, has two goals in 17 games this season. Hannikainen, 23, made his NHL debut tonight and was held scoreless in 9:47 of ice itme. He has five goals and eight points in 14 games for the Monsters.
  • With just more than $700K in salary cap space, the Washington Capitals have had to be creative managing their roster as injuries have begun to pile up, as Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post writes. After forward Paul Carey was reassigned to the AHL following Sunday’s game, the Caps were left with just 11 healthy forwards. Subsequently, reserve defenseman Nate Schmidt skated as a forward at practice. It’s an option head coach Barry Trotz may need to employ in an actual game should the situation warrant it. The piece gives an interesting insight into the complexities of roster management in the salary cap era. Every day the Capitals can avoid having to call up a minor league player such as Carey adds to the amount of salary cap space the team banks for use later in the campaign. While they may need to recall a player to play in a game, there is no sense carrying him on the roster during breaks in the schedule.

 

Beaulieu Out Of Hospital After Taking Puck To The Throat

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Montreal Canadiens blue liner Nathan Beaulieu was released from the hospital Wednesday after taking a puck to the throat area during the Habs 4 – 3 loss to Ottawa Tuesday, according to Arpon Basu of LHN.com. It’s unclear at this point how much time he will miss but Montreal head coach Michel Therrien did rule him out for Thursday’s home tilt against Carolina. Therrien also indicated it was unlikely Beaulieu would be in the lineup Saturday night.

Beaulieu has recorded six points – one goal and five assists – through 20 games to start the season while averaging better than 17 minutes per game. Now in his third full NHL campaign, Beaulieu has seen action in 171 games and tallied 38 points. He was Montreal’s first-round pick, selected 17th overall in 2011.

To take his spot, the Habs have called up Mark Barberio from St. John’s of the AHL. Barberio has yet to suit up in the NHL this season but has 14 points in 18 AHL contests so far this season. He also finished with 10 points in 30 games for the Habs last season.

The Canadiens are set to receive further blue line reinforcements in the form of Zach Redmond, who has been cleared to practice with the team. A broken foot has kept Redmond out of action all season. Redmond inked a two-year free agent contract with Montreal after spending the two previous seasons as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.

Pacific Division Snapshots: Brown, Strome, Russell

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Dustin Brown spent eight seasons as the captain of the Los Angeles Kings, helping the team to two Stanley Cup championships during that time. He scored 54 points in 2011-12, the fifth consecutive campaign of at least 22 goals and 53 points, but since has seen his performance decline. Brown did tally 18 goals during the strike-shortened 2012-13 season but in the three full seasons since he’s averaged just 0.35 points-per-game. That performance regression in part prompted the Kings to remove the “C” from Brown’s sweater in order to give it to Anze Kopitar.

The Kings did look to move Brown this summer but with six seasons remaining on a contract that calls for an AAV of just shy of $6MM, there wasn’t much interest. Brown was critical of the decision, particularly in how the situation was handled, but the 13-year veteran has handled his business like a pro this season. In fact, as Josh Cooper of Yahoo writes, not having the responsibilities of the position any longer allows Brown to focus on playing hockey and his play has improved this season as a result.

“I’m not taking the game home with me, which in years past was a difficult thing not to do, partly because I … just as a competitor you want to take everything personally. Now I’m kind of detached a little bit from it, which is a good thing. So I get to come to work every day and do my job. It has been much easier to leave it here, which has been much healthier.”

Brown has six points in 20 games, a per-game average of 0.45. That prorates to a full, 82-game total of about 37 points. Brown has been part of an effective third line with Devin Setoguchi and Nic Dowd and for the first time in a long while he says he is enjoying the game:

“This is probably the first time I’ve had fun playing hockey in a couple of years. I know in saying that we play a game for a living. But I always say no matter if you’re playing a game or whatever you’re doing in life if you’re not having fun it’s tough to do.”

Even with the uptick in production it’s unlikely Brown will ever again be worth his cap charge. But the Kings must nonetheless be pleased to see even a moderate improvement from their former captain.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

  • Dylan Strome has tons of skill and plenty of hockey instincts. But Arizona GM John Chayka and team bench boss Dave Tippett believe the one thing holding him back at this point in his young career is a lack of physical maturity, as Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports writes. Strome was recently returned to the Erie Otters of the OHL after a seven game spin at the NHL level. He tallied just a single assist and was a minus-5 while averaging 13:41 of ice time per game. Strome’s struggles represent one of the issues regarding Canadian junior players. His development won’t be helped by returning to the OHL as he’s simply too good for that level. But as we’ve seen, he isn’t physically ready for the challenges of the NHL and he can’t be sent to the AHL to play against other professionals due to the rules in place. However, as Morgan notes, Strome will be eligible to represent Canada at the upcoming Word Juniors, which as Chayka points out, will allow him to serve as a leader on the Canadian squad: “I think that’s important to be in Canada for him,” Chayka said. “He should be a big part of that team; a big part of that leadership group.”
  • Kris Russell has his critics as a player, particularly among the analytical community. Yet the Edmonton Oilers, who signed the veteran defender late in the offseason, are pleased with what he has brought to the table, as Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Journal writes. The numbers that matter most to the Oilers is the team’s won-loss record when he is in the lineup versus when he is out. Edmonton is 9 – 3 – 1 with Russell playing and just 2 – 5 – 0 when he does not play. While he isn’t putting up big counting numbers, in the opinion of bench boss Todd McLellan, Russell has helped add stability to a unit that has been below-average over the last several seasons: “I don’t think it’s coincidence. I think he does bring enough stability back there that he has an impact on the outcome of games.” Russell had to wait through the summer before landing a deal with Edmonton but if he continues to impress Oilers management, the team could look to lock up the 10-year vet before he hits the free agency next July.

Central Division Snapshots: Landeskog, Barrie, Kristo, Bitetto

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It must be mailbag day on the NHL beat. Earlier we linked to Joe Haggerty’s piece on the Bruins and now Mike Chambers of The Denver Post chimes in answering some tough questions regarding the Avalanche. First and foremost, Chambers discusses Gabriel Landeskog and what his expectations are for the gifted power forward. In the opinion of the scribe, based on his talent and the fact he was the second overall pick in the 2011 draft, Landeskog has to start producing 30-goal seasons in order to live up to his billing.

Landeskog posted a career-high 26 goals in 2013-14 and since has recorded seasons of 23 and 20 markers. He has netted four goals in 15 games this season which would put him on a full-season pace of 20 – 21.

As Chambers notes, Landeskog is a good NHL player and is the Avalanche captain, but with Colorado once again off to a slow start, Colorado needs him to start being great if they want to sneak back into the playoff race. Currently, the five-year veteran left wing is out of action due to a lower-body-injury.

There were rumblings that Colorado could shake up its core this past summer and one player rumored to perhaps be moved in such a scenario was Landeskog. GM Joe Sakic instead kept the core intact and simply made a couple of changes around the edges. However, if Colorado doesn’t start playing better soon, they may revisit that choice and Landeskog could be made available later this season.

Elsewhere around the Central Division:

  • In the same mailbag, Chambers took a question on Tyson Barrie. Barrie, prior to inking a four-year, $22MM extension this summer, was also thought to possibly be available via trade. As a right-handed blue liner with plenty of offensive ability, many teams would have been interested in Barrie’s services. Clearly he is viewed as a top-end puck moving defender, which as Chambers notes, often comes with high-risk, high-reward tendencies. Chambers argues that when the team is going well, the mistakes are easily overlooked. On the flip side, when things are not going so well, each mistake is magnified.
  • St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh completed a minor deal today, with minor league forward Danny Kristo headed to the Penguins and defenseman Reid McNeill headed the other way. The news was first reported via the Blues official Twitter account. Kristo was Montreal’s second-round pick in 2008 and has also played in the New York Rangers organization. He appeared in 71 games for the Chicago Wolves, tallying 25 goals and 48 points. McNeill, two years Kristo’s junior, was selected in the sixth-round of the 2010 draft by St. Louis. With 409 penalty minutes in 234 career minor league games, the 6-foot-4, 216-pound blue liner appears to be more of a physical force than an offensive threat. The trade likely serves as little more than two clubs searching for minor league depth with the Blues moving a forward while acquiring some blue line help.
  • Nashville Predators defenseman Anthony Bitetto has been assigned to the club’s AHL affiliate on a conditioning assignment, tweets Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Bitetto has been out since opening night with an upper-body-injury. It will be interesting to see what the Predators do once the 26-year-old blue liner completes his conditioning assignment. In his absence, Yannick Weber has stepped into the top-six and has three assists in 15 appearances. Former Shark Matt Irwin has replaced veteran Matt Carle in the lineup and has responded with three goals and five points in 10 games. It seems likely that Weber would be the odd man out though there is no indication from Nashville or Vingan that this is the case.

Anaheim Ducks Notes: Wagner, Shaw, Kase, Cramarossa

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Since joining the Anaheim Ducks organization as a fifth-round pick in 2010, center Chris Wagner has carved out a career on the fringes of the NHL, and as The Orange County Register’s Eric Stephens writes, the 25-year-old pivot has learned a hard lesson about the business side of hockey. Wagner has been placed on waivers several times over the last two seasons, most recently two days ago, but instead of a reassignment to San Diego after he cleared, he was back in the Ducks lineup Thursday night following the trade of Michael Sgarbossa to Florida.

Wagner and Sgarbossa had been competing for playing time but that changed following the trade:

“It’s crazy. Sgars (Sgarbossa) was playing well, too. We competed. We had a really good relationship and everything. It just proves that it’s a business. We’re kind of just cogs in the business.

“Sometimes you can’t really explain why things happen. Just got to worry about your team and yourself. Make the most of your opportunity.”

Despite moving from Anaheim to Colorado and back again last season via waivers, Wagner says it’s not a process you “become immune to,” as Stephens reports:

“Once you go on, it’s just waiting. I don’t know if I’m numb to it now. It’s part of the worst 24 hours in hockey. You have no control and you don’t know what’s going to happen until the next day.”

With just two goals in 16 appearances so far this season, Wagner is likely to remain vulnerable to losing his roster spot as long as he is with Anaheim. Wagner provides an interesting insight into what it’s like for all of the fringe NHL players active today.

More from Anaheim:

  • From the same piece, Stephens notes that while Logan Shaw, recently acquired from Florida in the Sgarbossa deal, was assigned to San Diego immediately after the trade, the possibility exists that the 25-year-old winger could see time with Anaheim this season. Bench boss Randy Carlyle points to Shaw’s size and versatility as advantages over the recently departed Sgarbossa: “He can play right side or center. He’s a bigger-bodied individual. We’re looking at a little size differential between him and Sgarbossa. Sgarbossa came in and played well for us. Was up and down. Was a good player. Got nothing but great things to say about Sgarbie (Sgarbossa).
  • Anaheim today recalled forward Ondrej Kase from San Diego, tweets the busy Eric Stephens. Kase will likely take the spot of Joseph Cramarossa, who Stephens said did not skate this morning and appeared to get hurt Thursday. In nine games for San Diego of the AHL, Kase has scored three goals and seven points. He’s also appeared in two games for the Ducks tallying a single point this season. Kase was Anaheim’s seventh-round pick in 2014 and the 21-year-old recorded eight goals and 14 points in 25 games with the Gulls last year, his first action as a professional in North America.

Atlantic Division Snapshots: Miller, Shattenkirk, Pastrnak, Sabres

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In a recent mailbag feature appearing on CSN New England, Joe Haggerty tackled several Bruins-related questions. Chief among them was a query regarding the possibility of Boston making a move for St. Louis defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. Shattenkirk, who is in the final year of his contract and is expected to be one of next summer’s most coveted free agents, has been rumored to be available at times since the outset of the offseason and Boston, thought to be in the market for a top-four blue liner for just as long, has been linked to the veteran defender previously.

Haggerty reasons that while the Bruins would likely welcome a player of Shattenkirk’s ilk, the fact he has been the Blues best defenseman so far this season and given St. Louis considers themselves Stanley Cup contenders, they would probably not have much interest in dealing him away at this point. Additionally, it’s been suggested the Blues would require a scoring forward in any hypothetical trade of Shattenkirk, and until Frank Vatrano returns from injury, the Bruins don’t have the depth at that position to sacrifice.

Ultimately, while Haggerty expects the Bruins to have interest in Shattenkirk closer to the trade deadline, assuming the Blues do indeed make him available, right now it doesn’t make much sense for Boston.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • One of the reasons Boston could eventually find themselves in the market for a top-four defender is the mediocre play of young blue liner Colin Miller. Haggerty noted in the same mailbag that Miller’s performance so far has been “indifferent,” and while he’s had his moments this season he simply hasn’t played up to his abilities. Miller has just one goal and two points in 15 games this season and carries a minus-6 plus-minus rating.
  • Staying in Boston, Bruins winger David Pastrnak has officially been ruled out for tonight’s home game against Winnipeg, according to the team’s official Twitter account. Pastrnak is day-to-day with an upper-body-injury. The Czech winger is tied for fourth in the NHL with 10 goals and has added four assists for a total of 14 points in 14 games.
  • The Buffalo Sabres and GM Tim Murray have not been shy about spending owner Terry Pegula’s money the last couple of seasons but still didn’t expect to be a “cap team.” Despite adding Evander Kane via trade a couple years back, taking on his $5.25MM cap hit in the process, and signing unrestricted free agent Kyle Okposo this summer to a seven-year, $42MM contract, Murray figured he’d still have plenty of cap space to work with this year. But, as John Vogel of The Buffalo News writes, injuries to several key contributors have forced Buffalo to call up replacements from their farm system and as a result they’ve walked a fine line relative to the salary cap ceiling. The Sabres have four players – Tyler Ennis, Cody McCormick, Jack Eichel and Nicolas Deslauriers – currently on IR. That totals $7.8MM in cap space on the shelf. As Murray noted in Vogel’s piece, Buffalo has 27 players drawing NHL salaries and pushing the team closer to the cap ceiling than they are comfortable being. It remains unclear why Buffalo hasn’t utilized LTIR as that would at least temporarily alleviate the problem. Ennis is out until mid-January after groin surgery and would have been eligible for a stint on LTIR.

Oilers Notes: McLellan, Lander, Russell, Caggiula, Hendricks

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Thursday night’s 4 – 2 loss to Los Angeles represented Todd McLellan’s 100th game behind the Edmonton bench. Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal felt that’s enough of a sample to determine whether McLellan has delivered on the promise of guiding the talented team back to the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

McCurdy compares McLellan’s performance to this point to the five other men who have guided the club since the 2009-10 campaign; a list that includes accomplished NHL coaches in Pat Quin and Tom Renney in addition to first-time NHL bench bosses like Ralph Krueger and Dallas Eakins.

It’s a relatively in-depth analysis using a number of categories including; the Oilers win rate, their share of goals and shots for and the team’s performance in the special teams department. A full read of the post is highly recommended but ultimately McCurdy concludes that the Oilers have improved only marginally under McLellan and despite a ton of high end talent – including Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Jordan Eberle – there is still much work to be done to turn Edmonton into a perennial playoff team.

Other items from Edmonton:

  • The club announced via their official Twitter account today that they have activated forwards Matt Hendricks and rookie Drake Caggiula, along with blue liner Kris Russell from IR. Also, Anton Lander who cleared waivers, has been assigned to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. Hendricks and Caggiula have yet to appear in a game for Edmonton this season while Russell, a late offseason free agent signing, has suited up for 11 contests and has three assists so far. Caggiula was a coveted college free agent last spring who capped off an impressive four-year career at the University of North Dakota with a 25-goal, 51-point senior season. He made the Oilers in training camp but a hip injury delayed his much anticipated debut. Now it appears as if he will get his chance in relatively short order.
  • Lastly, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal took note of the rumored availability of Arizona Coyotes blue liner Michael Stone and wonders if the Edmonton Oilers would have an interest, assuming those rumors are in fact accurate. Stone has just three points in seven games this season but turned in a productive 2015-16 campaign with six goals and 30 helpers. Stone has had a positive affect on puck possession over the last three years while playing for a team that ranks 24th in Corsi For % during that time. It’s unclear what Edmonton would have to give up to pry Stone away from Arizona but Pierre Lebrun speculates that when and if the team elects to move center Martin Hanzal, the Coyotes would want a young roster player who can contribute right now as opposed to prospects and/or picks. It’s fair to guess then that Arizona would request the same in any hypothetical trade of Stone.

Metro Division Snapshots: Oshie, Eller, Jones, Flyers

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Washington lost three players last night to injury in the team’s gutsy 1 – 0 win over Detroit, forcing the Capitals to play with just nine forwards for the last two periods of the contest. T.J. Oshie exited in the first frame with what is being called an upper-body-injury after absorbing a heavy hit from Riley Sheahan, writes Isabelle Kurshudyan of The Washington Post. He is being listed as week-to-week, suggesting he could miss at least the next few games for Washington.

Kurshudyan adds that Lars Eller, also suffering from an upper-body-injury, is currently day-to-day though head coach Barry Trotz says he is doubtful for tomorrow night’s game after not practicing today.

Andre Burakovsky was also hurt during the game and sat out the final two periods but was a full participant in practice this morning and should be ready to go tomorrow. Trotz says the 21-year-old winger is “trending in the right direction,” in terms of his chances of playing tomorrow. Burakovsky is confident, saying, “I feel good” and “I feel ready,” when discussing his availability for the game.

The loss of Oshie for any length of time hurts Washington as the veteran winger plays in all situations and logs big minutes for the team. He has eight goals and 12 points in 17 games this season for the Capitals.

Eller, acquired from Montreal in the offseason in exchange for two, second-round draft choices, has just two goals on the season. Washington pulled the trigger on the deal with the idea the Danish pivot would address the team’s longstanding hole for a third line center who can contribute in all phases.

Kurshudyan also reports that Trotz indicated the team will recall a forward from Hershey of the AHL, with the expectation that Oshie and Eller will be out of the lineup tomorrow. Though Trotz didn’t offer any insight into who might get the call, Paul Carey, Chris Bourque and Christian Thomas are all having good seasons for the Bears and each has at least some NHL experience.

Elsewhere in the Metro Division:

  • According to Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch, Seth Jones, out the last couple of weeks with a hairline fracture of his foot, was back at practice this morning. Jones was originally expected to miss three weeks with the injury so a return to practice lines up well with that time frame. In his first full season with the Blue Jackets, Jones has three goals and six points in 10 games. Fortunately for Columbus, the absence of Jones hasn’t hurt the team as the Blue Jackets have won four of the five games he has missed.
  • On one hand, the influx of talented youngsters into the Philadelphia Flyers lineup has been a welcome one. But, on the other, there is generally a learning process each must go through and several of the team’s young players are finding that out, as Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post writes. Head coach Dave Hakstol recently made second year defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere a healthy scratch and benched rookie winger Travis Konecny for much of the third period in Thursday’s 5 – 2 win over Winnipeg. Hakstol reminds his charges that a healthy scratch or a benching is simply a part of the process as young players learn what it takes to be a successful NHL player, and not to necessarily take it as a bad thing: “It’s easy to take some of the moves that we make in a negative way, but that’s not the case,” Hakstol said. “For young players, it’s a learning process. I used the word (Thursday) ‘accountability.’ There is that element within a team and most importantly just taking positive steps forward as you become a more consistent player at this level and that’s not an easy step for young players to make and Ghost is still a young player.” Gostisbehere, who finished second in Calder Trophy voting a year ago, and Konecny, a 19-year-old rookie, have both been productive this season with the “Ghost” posting 10 points in 17 games while Konecny has 11 points in 18.

Bobby Ryan Out With Broken Finger

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The Senators will be without the services of Bobby Ryan, one of their top offensive threats at least for tonight’s game against Florida due to a broken finger, according to the team’s official Twitter account. The team also described the likelihood of Mike Hoffman suiting up tonight as “less than likely,” suggesting it’s probable that two of the Sens best forwards will be out of the lineup tonight.

Curtis Lazar, who was recalled from Binghamton of the AHL this morning, will be in the lineup.

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun adds that this is the third broken finger over the last three years for Ryan.

Ryan has struggled at the outset of the 2016-17 campaign, scoring just three goals and recording six points in 17 games to date. The native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey and former second overall draft choice in 2005 – selected only after Sidney Crosby – tallied four straight 30-goal campaigns from 2008-09 through 2011-12 while a member of the Anaheim Ducks. Since being acquired by the Senators in a blockbuster deal which saw Jakob Silfverberg, Stefan Noesen and a first-round pick going to Anaheim, Ryan has failed to to reach the 30-goal mark. His best season came last year with a scoring line of 22G – 34A – 56Pts.

One of the reasons the Senators traded for Derick Brassard was to give Ryan a skilled, left-handed pivot who could more easily get the puck to the right-handed right wing on the rush. The two have failed to click as hoped and were recently moved to different lines in an attempt to jump start the offense.

Hoffman, like Ryan, is off to a slow start with just three goals and seven points in 16 games. He is considered day-to-day with a lower-body-injury. Hoffman inked a massive four-year contract extension worth a total of $20.75MM this summer on the heels of a 29-goal, 59-point performance in 2015-16.

The Senators currently rank 27th in the NHL in goals scored and losing Ryan for what could be a lengthy period won’t help matters. Lazar has been considered one of Ottawa’s better prospects and the hope is he is ready to contribute some offense.

 

San Jose Sharks Snapshots: Burns, Labanc

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Brent Burns and his potential free agency next summer is already a hot topic and will only continue to grow more popular as the season progresses with no contract extension between the blue liner and the San Jose Sharks. There is no doubt Burns is set to cash in whether he re-signs with the Sharks or heads to the open market and as Adam Gretz of FanRag Sports Network argues, Burns will be well worth every penny on his next contract.

Gretz speculates that given what similar defenseman have received, Burns should have no trouble finding a deal worth anywhere between $7MM and $8MM annually. That would place him easily among the highest paid blue liners in the game as only P.K. Subban has a contract with an AAV in excess of $8MM. But as Gretz points out, since becoming a full-time blue liner in 2014-15, Burns has more goals than anyone else at the position with 50.

Further, Burns ranks behind only Erik Karlsson in points with 149 and has more shots on goal than any other defender with 673.

Of course it’s easy to rationalize paying Burns or any other defenseman $8MM-a-year based on his current production level; the real question is how he is going to fare the longer his contract runs.

At 31, Burns is likely to get the seven-year max contract – eight if he re-signs with San Jose – which will take him well into his late 30’s. Naturally, Burns’ performance will decline as he ages and whoever signs the 6-foot-5, 230-pound defenseman will have to hope it’s a slow decline rather than a sudden one.

Assuming Burns finishes the current campaign strong he has a strong chance to join an accomplished group of defenders who have averaged 0.80-points-per-game or better between their age 29 and 31 seasons. According to Gretz, just 16 others have done that and many of those played during the 1980’s when scoring was significantly higher than it was in any other era. Gretz takes it further, noting that those blue liners saw on average a 19% decrease in point production over the four years following that stretch between 29 and 31. If Burns follows that same trend he would still be a 50-point scorer in year four of his next contract.

Granted, Gretz’s analysis does leave open the likelihood that Burns’ performance will decline further in years five through seven. In fact, he may well not be worth what he will be paid during those seasons but that’s a risk every team that signs a big money, long-term deal accepts. The hope is to get enough surplus value in the first half of the pact to offset the losses likely to be seen in the back half.

In other San Jose Sharks news:

  • An unlikely top prospect, Brooklyn-born Kevin Labanc, who was selected by the Sharks in the sixth round of the 2014 entry draft, made his NHL debut last week. In five contests since joining San Jose, Labanc only has one point. But the rookie winger had his best game so far, as Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area reports, playing on a line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski in Thursday’s loss to St. Louis. Labanc notched his first NHL goal and nearly had another later in the game. The Sharks are going to need more games like that from the youngster as they may be without the services of Tomas Hertl for a while.

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